1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of controlling nematodes with 0,0-diethyl 0-(1,2,2,2-tetrachloroethyl) phosphorothioate.
2. Description of the Prior Art U.S. Pat. No. 3,027,296 describes a number of halogenated phosphorus esters, including 0,0-diethyl 0-(1,2,2,2-tetrachloroethyl) phosphorothioate at columns 7 and 8, as insecticides. This patent shows testing of certain of the halogenated phosphorus esters for insecticidal activity on houseflies, two-spotted mites and pea aphids. None of these tests involved application and use of these halogenated phosphorus compounds as soil insecticides in the soil habitat of insects or their larvae. The patent suggests that the compounds have systemic insecticidal activity when applied to the soil in the vicinity of growing plants or directly to the plants.
East German Pat. No. 123,096 also discloses various polyhaloalkyl phosphate esters, including 0,0-dimethyl and 0,0-diethyl 0-(1,2,2,2-tetrachloroethyl) phosphorothioate as compounds 41 and 42, and broadly their use as insecticides. Similar disclosures are found in East German Pat. No. 107,581.
None of these patents disclose the control of nematodes which feed on growing plants that is afforded by the tetrachloroethyl phosphorothioate of the present invention. Indeed, nematicidal activity is not common to all insecticides or even all soil insecticides because of the different characteristics of the unsegmented roundworms that comprise the class Nematoda as compared to the creatures of the class Insecta.